Infosys wins harassment case, big setback for US employee

Washington, Aug 21: The Information and Technology (IT) giant Infosys must be relieved as it has won the harassment case in US court on Monday, Aug 20.

The court decision was a major setback for the American employee Jack B Palmer who had filed the lawsuit against Infosys saying that the company officials had harassed him as he was the whistle-blower of the visa fraud case.

The court, however, dismissed Palmer's petition saying that his lawsuit against Infosys did not meet the standard under Alabama law for a worker to claim negligent or outrageous mistreatment by an employer.

While pronouncing his verdict on the harassment case, the judge said, "This court cannot rewrite state law. An argument could be made that such threats against whistle-blowers, in particular, should be illegal."

Citing the court judgement, Infosys spokesperson said, "Today's decision confirms what we have been saying from the beginning: Mr Palmer's claims of retaliation were completely unfounded."

"This is a company built on core values that include leadership by example, integrity and transparency. Those values always have and will continue to shape the way we do business with our clients and, without exception, the way we treat our people," the spokesperson added in his statement.

Palmer earlier had accused Infosys of using the short-term visas to bring in less-expensive Indian workers for technology projects, undercutting Americans with similar skills. Palmer, who continues with the job in the company, later claimed that he has not been assigned any new project as his accusations against the company had come in public.